JEDDAH: Homeless overstayers, including children, old people and women – some of whom have given birth in the polluted environments, without health care – said they have been living on streets, public squares and under bridges in Jeddah for more than 18 months. Some of them said they were driven to beg after their embassies abandoned them and that cannot return to their countries. A tour by Okaz/Saudi Gazette uncovered a state of despair and fear among the overstayers, most of whom are Indonesian. People living under Sitteen (the 60th) Bridge in southern Jeddah blame their country's consulate for not helping them or completing their deportation procedures so they can go home. They stressed that the hardships of their lives, in what authorities said was a crime-filled environment, has forced them to beg and look to earn their bread through odd jobs such as carrying machinery and washing cars. The tour showed that some homeless mothers gave birth in the open. The people, who demanded that authorities expedite work to address their issues and deport them, expressed fear that their situations might deteriorate further as their waiting grows longer. Okaz/Saudi Gazette could not get a comment from the Indonesian Embassy in Jeddah, but Badr Al-Hadhli, supervisor of the Sea Pilgrims City, said continuous meetings are being held between the city and related authorities to conclude an agreement for removing the overstayers from under the bridges and temporarily sheltering them. Embassies and consulates of several other countries including the Philippines, Egypt, Sudan and Sri Lanka, have signed agreements for sheltering their citizens in Sea Pilgrims City until their deportation procedures are completed, but Indonesian authorities have not accepted an offer to do so, Al-Hadhli said. “The Indonesian Consulate has not signed an agreement to shelter their homeless citizens since we offered it to them a month ago,” he stressed. Second Lt. Nawaf Al-Bouq, security spokesman of Jeddah Police, said “overstayers' sites have rampant crime including sexual harassment, stealing, robbery and fights among the overstayers or with other people.” Saad Al-Shahrani, director of the Anti-beggary Office in Jeddah Governorate, said beggars must be arrested by all security agencies, as stipulated by regulations. Security campaigns have revealed that people of different foreign nationalities are involved in begging and 98 percent of them put on women's abayas and Saudi men's wear, he added. Al-Bouq said the role of the police is restricted to providing the highest levels of security to prevent the occurrence of rioting and to deal with cases registered at sites where overstayers gather. He said there are directives from the Makkah Emirate and Jeddah Governorate to arrest beggars.
